Wednesday, May 28, 2014

The ex-cop charged with scrawling swastikas and anti-Semitic messages in a Hasidic Brooklyn neighborhood told police he did it because “cheap” Jews shortchanged him when he worked as a deliveryman, court papers show.

Michael Setiawan, 36, was arraigned Friday on a 39-count indictment, charging him with the vile graffiti binge in Borough Park on May 3.

He’s accused of spraying pink paint on 15 locations - cars, storefronts and a school. Nine of the incidents are categorized as hate crimes.

“I just vandalized the cars...because I don’t like those people,” Setiawan said from his holding cell at the 68th Precinct stationhouse, according to a document made public Tuesday.

Asked why, he replied: “Because they’re cheap...When I was a deliveryman, they never gave me anything.”
Four hours earlier, the former NYPD cop - who retired in 2007 after two years on the force - was decidedly less forthcoming, the papers show.

At the bottom of sheet outlining the Miranda warnings, he indicated that he doesn’t want to answer questions then signed it with the cryptic words: “F--- you 68 pct from 7171.”

In a highly unusual procedure, Setiawan was arraigned via video hookup from the psych ward at Bellevue Hospital where he remains under “doctors’ care,” a source said.

His exact mental condition is not known, but his lawyer did not ask the judge for a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he’s fit to proceed.

He was ordered held on a $75,000 bail.

The graffiti spree included lines like “F--- you Jew” and “Jew cheap s---.”

“Hate crimes such as these are hurtful and must not be tolerated in a civilized society, particularly in Brooklyn, where we embrace diversity,” district attorney Kenneth Thompson said in a statement.

The defendant is facing four years in prison for each of the scrawled screeds he’s charged with spraying.
Some of the incidents were caught on camera and one witness identified him in a line-up, according to documents.

“I’m scared,” Setiawan was quoted as telling the cop from inside the cell.